Alaimo had been suspended after the commissioners ruled he had not responded to certain requests for information. The commission had asked him to give an accurate account of the hours he worked each day, provide a daily log of activities, submit a formal notice of request for time off and record and report daily mileage on district trucks.

The commission also asked Alaimo to respond to all structure fires and emergencies. Reidy has said Alaimo did respond to a Dec. 14 fatal accident on I-91, but did not get to a fatal Dec. 10 structure fire on South River Street until about 8 a.m., almost two hours after the fire was called in.

During a meeting, Alaimo said he was late because of a health condition, Reidy has said.

In the lawsuit, Alaimo charged that he was discriminated against because of a disability, that the city failed to pay him wages and that officials invaded his privacy by making disparaging comments about his health in public.

Attorney Gary Phelan said Alaimo "believes that from day one the commission has been and continues to look for a way to force him to retire."

Alaimo, 56, will return to work Thursday. He is requesting a trial by jury.

Phelan said Alaimo has sought accommodations for his medical conditions and those requests have been ignored.

"He continues to be retaliated against because he has a worker's comp injury," Phelan said in an interview with the Courant Wednesday. "With respect to what culminated in the suspension, he believes he reached a point where he wasn't willing to tolerate it anymore."

Alaimo has been a firefighter for 35 years, and the Thompsonville Fire Chief for the past seven years.

"He's not willing to just allow the fire commission to damage his reputation any further," Phelan said.

Phelan said Alaimo is suing for false light invasion of privacy "because of what Chairwoman Reidy had publicly said in newspaper interviews following his suspension that [the commission was] not aware of the fact that he had colitis until he disclosed that in his hearing on Dec. 16."

Phelan said Alaimo had emailed Reidy on June 2, 2014 explaining his diagnosis and that he has dealt with it for 17 years.

"By her saying that it was the first time they were aware of it is implying he concealed his condition from her," Phelan said. "He was completely upfront. She got the email and responded."

On Jan. 16, Alaimo will be filing claims with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging age discrimination, according to the lawsuit.

Alaimo alleges that since the commission made him use his unused sick days, personal or vacation time for heart and hypertension workers compensation days, they violated the Workers Compensation Act.

The district's attorney Patrick McHale and commissioner Reidy could not be reached for comment.